Reviews of DVD and Blu-ray sets of films, television series. Also occasional travel and theater posts.

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Saturday, July 2, 2016

'redvsblue: The Chorus Trilogy' Steelbook BD The Empire Strikes Out in Part Two

As the recent primer/S11 post on the June 2016 Steelbook Blu-ray release of "redvsblue (rvb): The Chorus Trilogy" promises, this current post is the second of three articles on this S11-S13 collection of the most hilarious scifi web series about video game soldiers ever made. These reviews should wrap up with a mid-July 2016 post.

As Part One of this trilogy of posts states, rvb is the long-running (and still going strong) brainchild of Rooster Teeth productions, Part One also notes that the best news regarding "Chorus" is that even folks who are new to the rvb universe can follow this tale of space marines in the "far distant future" being marooned (pun intended) in a canyon on the titular desolate planet.

The cocky fanboys at Teeth show that they know their stuff regarding scifi trilogies in having Part One, which is a feature-film style presentation of the S11 episodes, establish both the setting and the lore of the trilogy. This season ends with the military men in armor in the hues of the titular colors being recruited to join a group of rebels in a war against an evil empire. (An interview in a "making-of" feature on the S12 reveals the amusing reason for creating that war.)

Part 2, which is a feature-film style presentation of the S12 episodes, of the trilogy, has our hilariously crude wise-cracking heroes largely going on missions that make excellent use of the video game footage that provides the basis for rvb episodes. These ventures start with a rescue mission and include raids on a communications jamming facility and an empire base. Of course, there is plenty of bickering, cursing, and general mayhem along the way,

An early scene has three soldiers make school-election style speeches in a bid for group leader, One spoiler is that the guy whose presentation discusses why he does not want the job ends up getting it.

The reveals galore include the cause of the crash that brings the boys to Chorus, the origin of the cool weaponry on the planet, the reason for the actions of the Empire, and the very surprising identity of the true big bad behind the underlying conflict regarding the planet.

Additional wonderful (but not always sincere) cynicism comes in the form of the motives of some rebels. Each time, it is a case of its funny because its true. Lighter negativity is presented regarding the limited ability of men to express emotion,

S12 further sets the stage for proverbial old friends and foes to reappear but not always in his original form and/or role. The spoilers this time is that there are great hologram jokes and the Rooster boys delight in bringing a humongous dick back into the series.

All of the above (and so much awesomely more) provides a showcase for the Teeth team to create wonderful comedy from a combination of military-style video game footage and scifi-heavy pop culture. In much the same way that the Best Brains behind the late-80s-early '90s series "Mystery Science Theater 3000" run with the idea of us making rude comments during horrible movies, the Teeth guys give voice to the folks who provide the CGI heroes of Halo and similar games personality.

In addition to the aforementioned "making-of" documentary, the S12 special features include Public Service Announcements that seem to be standard for rvb sets. The best one in the S12 set provides amusing advice regarding seeking gainful employment in the long-standing abysmal job market. This short seems particularly geared for the unemployed recently graduated frat boys who likely comprise a significant portion of the rvb target audience.

Anyone with questions or comments regarding rvb generally or "Chorus" specifically is strongly encouraged to email me. You can also connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.